76 VOYAGE TO THE 



baskets are not only capable of containing water, but 

 are used for cooking tbeir meals. A number of small 

 scarlet feathers of the oriolus phoeniceus are wove in 

 with the wood, and completely screen it from view on 

 the outside ; and to the rim are affixed small black 

 crests of the Californian partridges, of which birds a 

 hundred brace are required to decorate one basket : — 

 they are otherwise ornamented with beads, and pieces 

 of mother-of-pearl. They also embroider belts very 

 beautifully with feathers of different colours, and they 

 work with remtirkable neatness, making use of the 

 young quills of the porcupine, in a similar manner to 

 the Canadian Indians ; but here they manufacture a 

 fine cloth for the ground, whereas the Canadians have 

 only the bark of the birch-tree. They also manu- 

 facture caps and dresses for their chiefs, which are 

 extremely beautiful ; and they have a great many 

 other feather ornaments, which it would be stepping 

 beyond the limits of my work to describe. 



The stature of the Indians which we saw in the 

 missions was by no means diminutive. The Alchones 

 are of good height, and the Tuluraios were thought to 

 be, generally, above the standard of Englishmen. 

 Their complexion is nmch darker than that of the 

 South-sea Islanders, and their features far inferior in 

 beauty. In their persons they are extremely dirty, 

 particularly their heads, which are so thatched with 

 wiry black hair that it is only by separating the locks 

 with the hand that it can be got at for the purposes 

 of cleanliness. Many are seen performing such acts 

 of kindness upon their intimate friends ; and, as the 

 readiest means of disposing of what they find, con- 

 suming it, in the manner practised by the Tartars, 

 who, according to Hakluyt — " cleanse one anothers' 



